Breakers Finish 3-Game Road Swing Unbeaten

The Boston Breakers finished their three-game road swing unbeaten by earning a 0-0 draw against Sky Blue FC on Saturday at Yurcak Field in Piscataway Township, New Jersey.

Though the Breakers offense was kept off the scoresheet for just the third time this season, the defense did its part to preserve the positive result. Breakers goalkeeper Ashley Phillips earned her first shutout of the season and made five saves, while the back line extended earned its second straight cleansheet.

The result pushes the Breakers just one win shy of playoff position after going 1-0-2 on their longest road trip of the season.

“I thought it was a good performance by Ashley and the defense,” Boston Breakers Head Coach Lisa Cole said in a team release. “I thought we dominated play in the first half. It was a good team performance against one of the best, if not the best team in the league. We’re looking to continue to improve and put ourselves in a playoff position.”

Sydney Leroux, the current league leading scorer, had Boston’s best chances in front of goal. Leroux shot wide of the far post twice, in the fifth and 24th minutes. In the 32nd minute she forced a save out of Brittany Cameron, firing right at the Sky Blue goalkeeper off a feed from Lianne Sanderson.

Cameron, who finished the match with three saves, palmed an effort from ten yards away by Kyah Simon over the crossbar in the 39th minute. That play was Boston’s last clear-cut scoring chance, as Sky Blue would dominate the second half.

Phillips sprung into action in the 51st minute, tipping an effort by Katy Freels over the crossbar. Freels tried again repeatedly over the course of the half. She stopped additional efforts by Freels in the 53rd, 74th, and 87th minute and came up with an important diving stop on Danesha Adams in the 64th minute.

“Whenever you are on the road, you want to steal points, and we were able to do that against three good teams,” Cole said. “Hopefully we’re starting to play our best soccer as we get toward the end of the season.”

The Breakers return to Dilboy Stadium on Sunday, Jul. 21 to take on Portland Thorns FC.

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About Julian Cardillo

Julian Cardillo is an American sports journalist who has contributed to New England Soccer Today since its inception. He has also written for The Boston Globe, Boston.com, The Advocate, Soccerly, and a number of other outlets. He was a foreign correspondent for Boston.com in 2012, covering AS Roma from Italy. He has contributed to Roma Radio and Yahoo Sports Radio. Julian speaks English, Italian, and French. He has a Politics degree from Brandeis University, where he is currently taking graduate classes. Follow him on twitter @juliancardillo